obscure
Etymology
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Etymology
From Middle English obscure, from Old French obscur, from Latin obscūrus, from ob- + *scūrus, from itc-pro *skoiros, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱeh₃-.
Pronunciation Adjectiveobscure (comparative obscurer, superlative obscurest)
- Dark, faint or indistinct.
- 1892, Denton Jaques Snider, Divine_Comedy#Inferno, 1, 1-2 (originally by Dante Alighieri)
- I found myself in an obscure wood.
- 1892, Denton Jaques Snider, Divine_Comedy#Inferno, 1, 1-2 (originally by Dante Alighieri)
- Hidden, out of sight or inconspicuous.
- c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act II, scene iii]:
- The obscure bird / Clamoured the livelong night.
- 1606, John Davies of Hereford, Bien Venu:
- the obscure corners of the earth
- Difficult to understand.
- 1953, Samuel Beckett, Watt, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Grove Press, published 1959, →OCLC ↗:
- The lock was of a kind that Watt could not pick. Watt could pick simple locks, but he could not pick obscure locks.
- an obscure passage or inscription; The speaker made obscure references to little-known literary works.
- Not well-known.
- Unknown or uncertain; unclear.
- The etymological roots of the word "blizzard" are obscure and open to debate.
- (dark) cimmerian, dingy; See also Thesaurus:dark
- (faint or indistinct) fuzzy, ill-defined; See also Thesaurus:indistinct
- (hidden, out of sight) occluded, secluded; See also Thesaurus:hidden
- (difficult to understand) fathomless, inscrutable; See also Thesaurus:incomprehensible
- (not well-known) enigmatic, esoteric, mysterious; See also Thesaurus:arcane
- clare-obscure
- clear-obscure
- obscurity
- obscuration
- French: obscur
- German: obskur, dunkel, vernebelt, finster, düster, undeutlich, unklar, unbestimmt, zweifelhaft, dahergelaufen
- Italian: oscuro
- Portuguese: obscuro
- Russian: тёмный
- Spanish: obscuro
- German: unbedeutend, versteckt, verborgen, unsichtbar, schleierhaft, unbekannt
- Italian: nascosto, oscurato
- Russian: скры́тый
- French: sibyllin
- German: unverständlich
- Italian: confuso, poco chiaro, vago, indistinto
- Russian: непоня́тный
- Spanish: obscuro
- Russian: малоизве́стный
- Spanish: obscuro
obscure (obscures, present participle obscuring; simple past and past participle obscured)
- (transitive) To render obscure; to darken; to make dim; to keep in the dark; to hide; to make less visible, intelligible, legible, glorious, beautiful, or illustrious.
- c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act V, scene iii]:
- They are all couched in a pit hard by Herne's oak, with obscured lights.
- c. 1688', William Wake, Preparation for Death
- There is scarce any duty which has been so obscured in the writings of learned men as this.
- (transitive) To hide, put out of sight etc.
- 1994, Bill Watterson, Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat, page 62:
- I realized that the purpose of writing is to inflate weak ideas, obscure poor reasoning, and inhibit clarity.
- (intransitive, obsolete) To conceal oneself; to hide.
- 1623 (first performance), John Fletcher, William Rowley, “The Maid in the Mill”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC ↗, Act IV, scene ii:
- How! There's bad news. / I must obscure, and hear it.
- French: obscurcir
- German: verdunkeln, vernebeln, verunklaren, verwirren
- Italian: oscurare, offuscare
- Russian: затемня́ть
- French: obscurcir
- German: verschleiern, verdecken, verbergen
- Italian: nascondere, occultare
- Russian: скрыва́ть
- Spanish: esconder, ocultar
This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.003
